Expert delivers talk on impact of climate change on livestock
As part of the celebrations for the academic fortnight of the 21st convocation of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), a ceremony for the Dr NN Dastur Memorial Oration Award-2025 was organised at the institute recently. Dr Dheer Singh, Director and Vice-Chancellor of ICAR-NDRI, while presiding over the function, welcomed Dr Raghavendra Bhatta, Deputy Director General (Animal Science), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi.
Dr Singh said Dr Bhatta had done commendable research on livestock methane emission and amelioration, methane inventory, climate change and small ruminant nutrition.
Dr Bhatta had served as the Director of National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru, he added.
This award was being conferred on him in recognition of his contributions to the field of animal sciences, he said.
Dr Bhatta delivered a lecture on “New Paradigms in Livestock Feeding and Management under changing climate”, and said the impact of climate change were already causing severe — and, in some cases, irreversible — damage to terrestrial, freshwater, cryosphere, coastal and open-ocean ecosystems. The scale and severity of the impact exceeded earlier projections. Temperature and rainfall were major contributors to the temperature humidity index (THI), and could worsen heat stress of dairy animals, he added.
Dr Bhatta said scientific evidence confirmed that human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, were primary drivers of global warming.
Due to climate change, the livestock sector was facing fodder shortage, water scarcity, increased incidence of vector borne diseases and heat stress, he added. Mitigation strategies such as culling low producing animals, selecting low residual feed intake animals for milk production, use of additives/methane inhibitors, use of plant secondary metabolites and promotion of silage making and its feeding were useful strategies in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the livestock sector, he said.
Though mitigation strategies were complex due to inherent issues like low productivity and feed quality, the government was committed to make India net-zero in this regard by 2027, he added. Dr Rajan Sharma, Joint Director (Research), said the event served as a platform to honour individuals like Dr Raghavendra Bhatta, whose dedication and expertise contributed significantly to the advancement of animal sciences in India, shaping the future of agriculture in the nation. Dr Ashish Kumar Singh, Joint Director (Academics), expressed gratitude to all dignitaries, participants and organisers for their collective efforts in making the event a success.
